A few beginners questions on gloves

Hi everyone

I am just wondering how important/beneficial a decent glove is. I have never had a glove before.

I had been the range a few times and was starting to get rubbed areas just where my fingers join my palms, in particular near my wedding ring which is quite a thick ring. I went to my local sports superstore and shelled out the lofty sum of £2.99 for a cheap dunlop glove and initially thought it was helping my swing, it certainly protects my hand/skin, but the last few times it has felt a little looser and almost a bit of hindrance. Is this because I bought cheap and it has stretched a bit? Is the purpose less to "comfort" the grip than to aid control? Does it sound like my grip itself is the problem rather than the glove? I would be happy to purchase a better glove if that will help, but, if it won't then I won't bother.

Of course I am asking questions without you ever seeing my grip so any questions or pointers fire away.

Thanks in advance

Sam

Sam,

A glove is there to aid grip rather than for comfort, and the fact you only wear it on one hand should tell you which hand should be doing most of the work (left hand if you are right handed).  Most high handicappers/beginners tend to wear the glove on the pad of the palm opposite the thumb so some gloves have a 'wear pad' in this area.  Beware of gloves with lots of elasticated sections as these can stretch over time and cause the glove to become loose.  Having some smaller elasticated areas is not a problem though and make it more comfortable.

Getting the right size is important and the glove should feel slightly tight when new.  As well as small, medium and large they come in 'half' sizes (small-medium, etc) so getting the right size for you is easy enough.  It is important that the glove you wear is comfortable but that will be trial and error unfortunately. 

A good quality glove that is reasonably priced (in my opinion) is the Mizuno Retroflex.  They're about £5 from American Golf etc, but are often on multibuy too.  They're shaped to your hand for comfort as well. 

As a side note, I recommend removing your glove when putting or chipping close into the green.  It will give you more feel and help with your distance control on shorter swings. 

Wear in that area is often an indication that you are gripping in the palm rather than the fingers.  It's a common flaw that can develop without you realising it. 

As with all things golf, there is an element of you get what you pay for.  Whilst it's worth paying a little more to get what is right for you, I don't suggest that you go mad and try to buy yourself a game (you'll just end up skint and frustrated!)

I look at it like this.  You have one point of connection with the club - your grip.  If your grip is wrong then you will not connect with the ball properly (trust me I know!).  If your glove is loose, the club can move about in your hand and your grip has gone out of the window. 

I played most of my golfing life without a glove, but I do use one now, although I can still swing OK without one.

Sam, the trick is to get a glove that is, literally, skin tight - doesn't really matter what make because you have a choice of synthetic (cheaper) or real leather (more expensive) in the end.  Try loads on and find some that suit your hand shape, your fingers should completely fill the, er, fingers and the velcro clasp shouldn't go further than halfway across to allow for stretch.

Up until recently I used Footjoy Wethersofts, good and hard wearing and keep their shape for quite a few rounds.  Then my neighbour gave me some beautiful cabrerra leather ones that he'd won and they are so comfy, but they don't last and at £10 a shot aren't cheap.  Dilema is whether or not to carry on with them....  

Sam whatever glove you choose to wear be prepared for having nicely tanned arms and right hand, but 1 very very white left hand (assuming you're right handed). My T-Shirt tan as the missus calls it, is now a t-shirt and glove tan.

I used the Footjoy Weathersof GTX for the last year or so and they are a great and well wearing glove.  The only issue I found was that the elastic starts to stretch and I was throwing away what was otherwise a healthy glove.  Trying out a Footjoy Carbretta at the moment as there is hardly any elastic on them.  Really comfy, but at nearly £8 a glove it better last!

Good gloves are expensive and were comparatively more expensive in my early days compared to the rest of the equipment.

Initially it was the cost that made the decision as to whether to use one or not and I decided that they were a luxury that I was going to have to learn to do without.

A cheap glove is a waste of time in my opinion and one only gets what one pays for.

David Ley gave me a couple of Snake Eyes gloves and they were great.

I know single handicappers who use £2.99 Dunlop gloves, and I also know players worse than me who spend a lot of money on gloves.

For beginners, I rekon any reasonable glove that fits well will probably do the job, irrespective of price.

I use Srixon full cabretta leather, 15 quid for 3 on ebay cant be bad, they feel great, however I do wear the palms a little, Im blaming half cord grips rather than my technique!

I'd struggle to justify paying £20+ for a glove to be honest.  I do think it's worth trying a few to see what feels best though